1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to remote management of computer systems, and more particularly, to the isolation of a remote management device from its host system if the host system is not operable.
2. Description of the Related Art
Remote server management devices have been used to remotely access and administrate server computer systems. Remote server management devices allow a system administrator to dial in to a server or one server in a group of servers and monitor the status or administrate the server from a remote location. Remote server management devices are either embedded components in the server or expansion cards added to the server.
In some cases a server may lose power or become inoperable for some other reason. In such cases it is desirable to allow continued operation of the remote server management device so that the problems leading to the server fault can be observed. To allow such continued operation independent of the server, remote server management devices have been developed having battery backup power supplies.
Servers typically include peripheral component interconnect (PCI) buses to support peripheral cards. Some buses, including PCI buses, are fault intolerant and the bus lines must always be driven to known states to prevent improper operation. Also, floating bus lines can cause excess power usage due to switching. To provide uninterrupted operation of the remote server management device, the remote server management device must be isolated from the bus without deleteriously affecting the processing of its transactions.
One function of a remote server management device is to capture video display data related to the server so that it may be remotely viewed. Prior remote server management devices have stored the data in the system memory of the server. This situation is undesirable if the server loses power because the system memory is erased.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.